The Creation of France

Published20th January 2018

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Chapter
6
: Brittany

Brittany also escaped Plantagenet clutches. Duchess
Constance’s son, Arthur, duke of Brittany, who many thought the true heir to
Richard I of England, disappeared (probably murdered by his uncle, John).
Constance’s daughter by her second husband, Alix (1200 -1221), inherited the
duchy and married the great-nephew of Louis VII of France, Peter of Dreux (1187
– 1250). This brought Brittany closer within the French kings’ orbit, but it
remained independent. There were numerous internal disputes as to the Breton
succession, and it was eventually subsumed on the death of its last ruling
duchess, Anne (1477 – 1514), who had been obliged to marry successive French
kings.

Anne’s daughter, Claude (1499 – 1524), nominally duchess,
was married to François I of France (1491 – 1547), whose second son, and
eventual heir, became Henri II of France (1519 – 1559). Strictly, on the death
of her grandson, Henri III (1551 – 1599), Brittany should have passed to the
descendants of Claude’s grand-daughter, Margaret, duchess of Berry and duchess
of Savoy (1523 – 1574), but that did not happen.